A Friend in Need
by CoolAmi69
Summary: On the way to seek shelter from a storm, Asami and Korra stop to help a friend in need. (Korrasami month 2015, Prompts 9: Adoption/Storm)


**A/N: My fiancée has been pretty affected just by my description of my idea for this prompt. It's super cute, but it doesn't really start out that way. I really liked this one, and it turned out longer than I originally expected. Still, I hope you enjoy my ninth fic of the month!**

Thunder cracked in the sky with an ear-shattering boom. A few moments later, there was the flash of bright lightning. Air Temple Island lit up for a moment, illuminating everything around. The lightning hit the ocean, too close to the island to feel safe.

It happened so fast, and Korra scolded herself. She should've known better. She and Asami had been sitting together under a tree, just chatting and enjoying their afternoon alone together. She was lost in the romantic intimacy. Though the sun was hidden behind heavy clouds, the two women were holding hands and admiring the quiet grace of scenery while sharing thoughts. Korra thought they would never run out of things to talk about. And if they did, they could just sit and reflect over the Republic City skyline.

There should have been a few warning signs, but there weren't. Well, perhaps there were and she simply chose to ignore them to spend more time with the woman she loved. One minute, it was dry and gray. In the next, the sky turned black and rain started to pour without reservation.

Korra immediately waterbent a shield to protect them from the rain, but they were almost halfway across the island from the dormitories.

"I'm so sorry!" Korra apologized, one hand holding up the bubble and the other bending the water out of Asami's clothes. After she had properly dried her girlfriend, she dried herself.

"Let's hurry back," Asami shivered. She took Korra's free hand and hastily led her back. People from all around the island likewise rushed towards the safety of the buildings.

As they approached the dorms, Korra heard a noise. She couldn't be too sure what it was through the sound of the heavy rain and the crashing of the waves around the island. She stopped to listen.

Asami's quick pace caused her to pass Korra's water shield. "Korra! Let's go!" she prompted. She ran under the safety of the archway above the door and waited, unwilling to return out into the rain.

"No, wait. I heard something," Korra replied, turning her head side to side.

Soaked from her brief stint in the rain, Asami hugged herself and listened too. "Oh, Korra… It's sounds like quacking," she whispered worriedly.

The waterbender heard the sound more distinctly this time. She slowly walked towards the pond but she didn't see anything. Then, she heard it again. Creeping towards a bush and peering through, she looked back at Asami with a look of concern. "Asami, it's a baby turtleduck!" she called back. Pulling back some leaves with her free hand, she saw a tiny turtleduck huddled under the bush. At the movement caused by Korra, it retracted its head and legs into its shell. But something wasn't right.

"Well, leave it alone. You don't want its mother to attack you for getting close to her baby," she reprimanded.

"N-no… I think it was abandoned," Korra replied with a sudden lump in her throat. She looked closer and saw that one of its back legs was still sticking out of the shell, and it was bent at an awkward angle. "It's got a broken leg. I think its mom left it to shelter the rest of her babies from the storm."

One of Asami's hands flew to her mouth and another to over her heart. "No, Korra! I know it happens all the time, but it's just too sad!" she tried to hold back a sob.

Korra squatted in front of the frightened animal. "Hey, little friend. I'm Avatar Korra. I won't hurt you," she said gently. She held her hand out in front of the head hole and waited. Slowly, the little bill came out and sniffed her hand, then it extended its whole head out. "Does your leg hurt?" she asked.

Thunder clapped fiercely again with an almost instantaneous blaze of light in the sky. The turtleduck pulled its head back into its shell once again.

"Korra, hurry! You can't bend lightning, and it sounds like it's getting closer. Please, let's go inside!" Asami shouted. The storm around them was starting to intensify. The island was now empty of people and they appeared to be the only ones still outside.

Without another thought, Korra reached out and cradled the creature into her arms and ran back towards Asami. She too was soaked, having given up her water shield to carefully retrieve the little turtleduck.

Asami sniffled when she saw the little leg. "Oh, that poor thing! Korra, let's hurry and get it inside," she begged.

Korra nodded, and once again bent the water out of their clothes. The two stepped inside.

"I'll get some towels, and I'll meet you in the room," she instructed. Without waiting for another word, she turned around and walked in the opposite direction.

With her precious bundle, the Avatar walked slowly towards her room. "You're okay now, little one. We'll take care of you," she whispered. The turtleduck didn't emerge its head, but its broken leg was still sticking out and trembling.

Once Korra entered the room, she made sure that the window was tightly secured shut. The wind outside howled and the rain beat against the wooden shutters, but it would hold. She was grateful that they made it back safely inside. She opened the lantern door and shot a flame inside to light it.

Asami opened the door and closed it quickly behind her. "I'm not surprised that there weren't many towels left. I think I grabbed the last few ones," she said. She made her way to the desk and clicked the little desk light on. She folded a towel in half then laid it down. Then she instructed, "Why don't you put our little friend here."

With great care, Korra placed the turtleduck on the towel and stood back. She looked at Asami, whose eyes were wide with surprise at seeing the broken limb for herself.

With tears in her eyes, Asami looked back at her girlfriend. "My spirits, Korra. This is so awful… I brought this small pail of water to clean it, but I'm just so afraid I'll hurt it's leg. I mean, I almost can't believe its mother just left it," she cried.

Korra smiled, "You're a genius, Asami! I can heal it."

Asami raised a reluctant eyebrow as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Are you sure? I know you're a master healer, but have you ever healed animals?" she asked.

"Honestly, no. Naga's practically a tank so I've never had to use it on her. But I'm sure it'll be easy. I'll be gentle," she reassured her nervous partner. Korra bent a small stream from the pail, and began healing the injured leg.

Before their eyes, the glowing water didn't take long to straighten the leg. The turtleduck pulled in its newly-healed leg a few moments later.

The two girls grinned at each other. "You're so wonderful, Korra," Asami sighed, planting a kiss on her girlfriend's cheek. "Now I can clean it." Taking up a small towel, she began to clean the mud and leaves from its shell.

Korra, in the meantime, started digging through her wardrobe until she found a box. She emptied its contents, folded a blanket inside of it, and then brought it over.

Asami, having cleaned the outside of the turtleduck, looked back at Korra. "How can I clean the head and legs?" she asked hesitantly.

With a careful grip, Korra lifted the shell and hovered it over the water. "Maybe it'll think its in the pond." After a few moments of bobbing the bottom of the shell in the water, Korra sighed. "Well, I guess that didn't work," she said, turning her head to Asami.

"No, look!" the other girl smiled.

Little legs, including the previously broken leg, start to feel out for water from the shell and wiggle back and forth. Korra let go gently and let the little animal float. Soon enough, its head emerged. It swam in little circles around the bucket, happily quacking at its recovered mobility.

The two girls watched the turtleduck swim happily back and forth, and they hugged each other with joy. For what felt like hours, they took turns entertaining the animal and watching it swim. It warmed up to the two women, allowing them to pet and play with it.

The baby turtleduck started dipping its head in and out of the water, as if it was looking for something.

Korra's stomach growled loudly. "I guess it's dinner time," she announced, starting to make her way towards the door.

Asami began to follow, but the turtleduck started quacking in distress. It swam towards the edge of the bucket closest to them, as if trying to follow. "We can't leave it! Get some dinner and we can eat here," she instructed and walked back to sit in front of her new friend. "Aw, I wouldn't leave you, baby. I'll stay right here, and Mama Korra will get you food."

Grinning at the title "Mama Korra," she announced, "Well, 'Mama Korra' doesn't really know what turtleducks eat. Any suggestions?"

The engineer thought a few moments, then replied, "Maybe some vegetables or pieces of fish or chicken."

"I'll try vegetables," Korra sighed, then turned to walk outside.

As she traveled under the covered walkways from the dormitories to the kitchen, the wind and rain swirled around her. She could hardly make out Republic City if it wasn't for the blurred glow in the distance. Thunder rumbled again, and the lightning followed a few seconds later. At least the it seemed to be heading away from the island, but she still hurried to cover.

Korra strolled into the kitchen, where she found Pema started to set food out.

"Oh, Korra. You're just in time. Can you please help me bring the food out?" she asked.

Taking a plate in either hand, Korra followed Pema into the dining room. "Actually, Asami and I were going to eat in the room. I came to grab us a few plates, and something for a guest."

Pema stood up straight. "A guest? Why don't you bring them here? We have more than enough food. Let me just set another place," she said, hurrying back to the kitchen.

With her hands up, Korra said, "No, thank you, Pema. There's no need. We… sort of rescued a baby turtleduck. It had a broken leg and it was abandoned in a bush outside. I healed its leg, but do you have anything to feed it?"

The older woman smiled with a tear in her eye. "Oh, you two are so wonderful! I have just the thing!" she declared. She reached into a pail in the corner, and with chopsticks pulled something out to place in a bowl. "I have some fresh seaweed! I'll just chop it up into smaller pieces. It would be best if it ate out of the water, like it would in nature," she instructed.

"Oh, please. Don't trouble yourself, Pema. I can do it," Korra said.

However, it was too late. By the time Korra had finished her sentence, she was handing Korra a tray. "I already made dinner for you two and prepared your friend's seaweed. Be safe going back. The storm is still pretty wild," she directed.

"Wow. You're amazing! Thanks!"

As quickly and carefully as she could, Korra made her way back to the room with their food in tow. When she opened the door, she found Asami gently cooing to the baby turtleduck.

"You poor thing. We're so lucky that Mama Korra found and healed you. You need to be very good to her. And when the storm dies down, hopefully we can find your mama and siblings," she whispered.

"You're so cute," Korra smiled.

Asami spun around and blushed. "Oh, you're back. I didn't realize," she said.

Korra set the tray on the floor and returned to kiss her girlfriend. "Let's a have a rainy day, indoor picnic. Just the three of us," she announced. She reached into the wardrobe and pulled out another blanket which she placed on the ground.

Asami brought the bucket with the happily quacking turtleduck and down. At the sight of Korra, it was swimming in excited circles.

"First, your dinner," Korra said, slipping some seaweed into the water.

The small animal immediately started to dip its bill down to grab some seaweed and eat hungrily.

Smiling with a spoon in her mouth, Asami squealed. "Look at it eat! It's so cute! It really likes the seaweed."

Korra reached over for her bowl of soup. "Thank Pema for that. Even she almost cried when I told her how we found our friend."

"Well, Tomo thanks you."

"Tomo?"

"While you were out, we decided on a name. And it liked Tomo best," Asami smiled at their friend.

"Well, I hope you like your dinner, Tomo," Korra said.

Tomo quacked back happily. Korra grinned and slipped the rest of the seaweed into the pail.

After they had finished their meal, Tomo's swimming started to slow. The quacking had stopped, and it was looking around as if it were searching for something.

"Are you getting sleepy, little Tomo?" Asami whispered. She took another towel, and placed the turtleduck on it. She gently pat its legs dry, though at first it was reluctant to let Asami touch the legs that had been broken. "I won't hurt you," she whispered. Eventually, it let Asami dry it properly. Once she was finished, she placed it in the box that Korra had prepared. At once, it closed its eyes and fell asleep.

She carefully picked up the box and placed it on the nightstand next to their bed. "We should get to bed too," she said.

Korra and Asami both got ready for bed quickly, and slipped under the covers. Korra put her arm around her girlfriend who was looking into the box. Tomo was still sleeping soundly.

"Do you think it'll be okay?" Asami asked.

Korra listened hard outside. "I think the storm has subsided. We'll see how it goes through the night. Maybe in the morning, we can find its family," she whispered. But she wasn't sure if Asami had heard hear. She felt the slow and steady rise and fall of her lover's chest, and knew that she had fallen fast asleep.

* * *

The next morning seemed to come too soon. The sun's rays were bright as they peeked into the room, trying to wake the rest of the world. Asami was up before Korra, holding Tomo to her chest. Korra opened her eyes to find Asami sitting up in bed with the baby turtleduck.

"Good morning, Mama Korra," Asami smiled, holding Tomo close to her.

"Good morning, Tomo. And Mama Asami," she replied, holding a hand to the creature. Tomo quacked at her, and nipped softly at her fingers.

"Go put some clothes on. The sun looks like it's shining," Asami instructed. She stood up and opened one of the shutters to let more light in.

Korra had to shield her eyes from the flood of light into the room. "Okay, I get it. I'll get up."

Soon, with Tomo in hand, the girls were dressed and headed outside. To their delight, there was a turtleduck in the pond surrounded by four baby turtleducks.

"That must be the mother!" Asami said with joy. She placed the animal close to the edge of the pond.

Tomo quacked at Asami and Korra, then turned around to waddle towards the pond. Its tail swished back and forth at the movement, before it finally slinked into the pond.

The large turtleduck cautiously approached the new baby. She circled it a few times, but once Tomo quacked, she recognized it as hers. She quacked back before ushering it towards the others. There was a great symphony of quacks made by the reunited family.

Korra stood with her arm around her girlfriend the entire time. At the site of Tomo being welcomed back into its family, her eyes started to water.

Asami was already sobbing, and she put her arm around Korra to return the embrace. "Thank you for saving that little turtleduck, Korra. You're so wonderful," she wept.

"I didn't do it alone, Mama Asami. We make a great team," she said.

 **A/N: This whole month, I had been on a strict posting schedule. Little did I realize that one prompt posting day would fall on an American "holiday". I took the opportunity to spend it with my family, and delayed the rest of the fics by one more day. That way, I can post the last fic on the last day of the month also. Reviews are welcome!**


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